BACOLOD City – Representatives from the Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) and the Bacolod Bulk Water, Inc. (BBWI) were ordered to appear before the Sanggguniang Panlungsod in relation to the cease and desist order that the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) issued.
The order dated May 28 prohibits Baciwa and BBWI from drawing water from Ngalan River in the nearby town of Murcia, Negros Occidental due to lack of an NWRB-approved permit.
Councilor Ricardo Tan said they want to know why Baciwa and BBWI have sourced water from the river without informing them and the people of Bacolod.
Among those who were summoned were members of the Baciwa Board of Directors, Baciwa general manager Juliana Carbon and officials from BBWI.
BBWI and Baciwa have entered into a P1.1-billion bulk water service contract in March 2016.
Under the contract, BBWI is required to supply Baciwa 7 million liters to 22 million liters of water a day, which will be for the consumption of city residents.
“BBWI has constructed its reservoir near Ngalan River and immediately started drawing millions of liters of water from the said source without applying for a permit from the NWRB,” said Tan.
He added that BBWI “simply took the convenience of ‘leasing’ the water permit of Baciwa over Ngalan River,” which is prohibited by law.
Due to this, the NWRB issued the cease and desist order pending resolution of the issue.
“Baciwa allowed BBWI to build structures and water treatment facility along Ngalan River without the required permit from NWRB…Both Baciwa and BBWI disregarded the authority of NWRB by failing to secure a permit before drawing a very large volume of water from the source,” part of the order stated.
Tan said Baciwa and BBWI “clearly joined hands in circumventing the law.”
Now that BBWI can no longer draw water from Ngalan River, the water supply in the city is expected to drop, affecting around 53,000 consumers, added Tan.
“The situation will bring a threat of water crisis in Bacolod City if not attended promptly,” Tan stressed./PNm
